


lights will guide you home (a soft epilogue)

by only_more_love



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers Family, Death from Old Age, Future Fic, Gen, M/M, Major character death—but the happy kind—after a long life lived well, POV Steve Rogers, Post-Avengers Shawarma Scene, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:35:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25017082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/only_more_love/pseuds/only_more_love
Summary: When the time comes, Steve’s friends are there to welcome him.
Relationships: Steve Rogers & Avengers Team, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620826
Comments: 14
Kudos: 61
Collections: Tony Stark Bingo 2020





	lights will guide you home (a soft epilogue)

**Author's Note:**

> Card Number: 3115  
> Participant's Name: only_more_love  
> Title: lights will guide you home (a soft epilogue)  
> Square Filled: S5: Futurefic  
> Ship: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Avengers Team  
> Rating: G  
> Major Tags:  
> Warning: Major character death—but the happy kind—after a long life lived well  
> Summary: When the time comes, Steve’s friends are there to welcome him.  
> Word Count: 502

Steve Rogers is 259 years old, and Friday has meant lunch at Hummus Corner for the past twenty years—give or take a handful of decades. 

As Steve lifts his pita pocket, the scent of cumin, coriander, turmeric, and other spices causes his stomach to give a plaintive rumble. Before his beloved chicken shawarma can even make it to his mouth, it is plucked out of his hand. Frowning, he glances up. 

With a wink and a twinkling glance, Clint takes a hearty bite of Steve’s food. He groans appreciatively and rubs his stomach. “Oh, damn, that’s the good stuff,” Clint says around a mouthful of chicken before passing the food to Nat, who pats Steve’s shoulder and slips into the seat next to him. 

“Do you mind? I was about to eat that.” Steve narrows his eyes at Nat. 

Nat shrugs, eyebrow slanted at a precise, elegant angle that Steve has missed for what feels like a lifetime. 

Someone coughs, drawing Steve’s attention. Across the table, Bruce flashes him a placid smile and dips a fork into his salad. “Hey, Steve.”

“Share and share alike, right?” chirps a voice Steve recognizes from dreams, nightmares, and memories he’s riffled through so often their edges have faded and softened in shades of sepia. “Missed you, Cap,” Tony says, eyes bright and knowing in the scarce seconds before he leans down, one hand warm and firm on the back of Steve’s neck, and presses a gentle kiss next to Steve’s mouth. The crisp bristles of his goatee tickle Steve’s skin. As he straightens back up, his hand slides off Steve’s neck. 

But before he can move away, Steve catches Tony’s hand and meshes their fingers together. “Tony. Tony?” Disbelief, joy, and wonder all tangle in Steve; in his body; in his voice, as surely as his hand tangles with Tony’s.

“The one and only." The lines by Tony’s eyes deepen right along with his smile

“I don’t...I don’t understand,” Steve says. “How? What are you all doing here?”

“No place we’d rather be, punk.” Steve turns his head so fast his neck cracks. At his left sits Bucky. 

Sam slings an arm around Bucky’s shoulder, and as Steve stares at them both with who knows what expression on his face, Sam laughs. The sound of it, so deep, rich, and ringing with warmth, blankets Steve. “It’s time.”

“What do you say, old man? How ‘bout one first, last dance?” Tony asks, tightening his grip on Steve’s hand.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Steve says. Even as his vision blurs, he lets Tony guide him out of his chair and into his arms. The distant tinkling of piano keys washes over Steve. 

“Do you trust me?” Tony says in a murmur close to Steve’s ear.

“I do.” Dizzy and breathless, with the sounds of his friends’ applause and an undercurrent of music faint in his ears, Steve closes his eyes, surrenders to the warmth gilding his chest, and allows Tony to take all his weight.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Comments and kudos are appreciated. I respond to all comments, though sometimes it takes me a while. If you'd like to reblog this fic on Tumblr, you can find it [here](https://onlymorelove.tumblr.com/post/622455027693404160/fic-lights-will-guide-you-home%22).
> 
> If you feel like it, come say hi on [Tumblr](https://onlymorelove.tumblr.com) or Discord; I'm relatively harmless. ;) On Discord, I'm onlymorelove#8488, and my favorite haunts tend to be these SteveTony servers: [Put On the Suit](https://discord.gg/z5WSqbS) and [Earth's Best Defenders](https://discord.gg/4BXJ9B3).


End file.
